“These changes pose a serious threat to the physical survival of many Pasifika nations.

“I plan to give back to the Pasifika community by engineering structures which can withstand and adapt to the rapid changes created by global warming.”

Bruce is one of this year’s 13 recipients of the Ministry for Pacific Peoples funded Toloa Tertiary Scholarships due to his achievements and ambitions in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths) field.

The purpose of the scholarships is to encourage Pacific students to pursue studies in STEM subjects at tertiary level and increase the numbers of Pacific people employed into STEM careers.

Receiving the scholarship has significantly helped Bruce and his family, he says.

“It has removed a huge financial burden and in doing so it has enabled me to focus my efforts into supporting fellow Pasifika students.

“Mentoring and supporting younger Engineering students, particularly Pasifika students, is something I see as an obligation and thoroughly enjoy.”

Although the number of Pasifika students is increasing at Canterbury University, there is still a significantly high proportion of non-Pasifika versus Pasifika students.

“As an Engineering student and mentor to younger Pasifika Engineers, I’ve really noticed the limited number of Pasifika students doing Engineering.

“Winning a Toloa Tertiary Scholarship means so much to me because it’s my opportunity to show future Pasifika students what we can achieve, that University is within our reach and that we’re able to pursue professions such as Engineering.”